Order

Family

Code 4

Code 6

ITIS

ILLUSTRATION

PHOTOS

CONSERVATION STATUS

The House Sparrow is rated as Least Concern. The range of this bird species is around 10 million square kilometers at this time. The population of the House Sparrow is extremely large. It is estimated that the population of this bird in Europe alone could be as large as 270 million individual birds, not including its population in many other parts of the world. The prior rating for this bird species was Lower Risk. Due to the extremely large range and population of this bird species there are no immediate concerns.

Range and Habitat

House Sparrow: Native to Britain, northern Scandinavia, and northern Siberia to northern Africa, Arabia, India, and Burma. Introduced and established worldwide, except in Antarctica; common resident throughout must of temperate North America. Preferred habitats include cities, towns, and agricultural areas.

House Sparrow SONGS AND CALLS

House Sparrow A1

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Rapid chattering call from a female.

House Sparrow L1

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Descending calls from a female.

Similar Sounding

Voice Text

"Cheep-cheep-cheep"

INTERESTING FACTS

These birds return to their birthplace after every migration (a characteristic known as philopatric). Because of this, local populations have adapted to the color of their habitat resulting in 15 distinct subspecies in the West.

The Old Testament Bible associates the symbol of the sparrow with loneliness and solitude, while the New Testament views it as a sign of insignificance. Poor House Sparrow.

A group of house sparrows are collectively known as a "blight", "humiliation", and "subdivision" of sparrows.

In Japan the sparrow is traditionally a symbol of loyalty, perhaps because of its social able nature and how it gets along in large numbers.

RANGE MAP NORTH AMERICA

About this North America Map

RANGE MAP HAWAII

About this Hawaii Map

This map shows how this species is distributed across the Hawaiian island.

FAMILY DESCRIPTION

Old World Sparrows (Passeridae)

ORDER

The order PASSERIFORMES (pronounced pas-ser-i-FOR-meez), a large taxonomic order of one hundred eighteen families of birds, includes finches such as the weavers, the New World sparrows, and the Old World sparrows.

FAMILY TAXONOMY

The Passeridae family (pronounced pas-SER-ih-dee), which includes the Old World sparrows, contains forty-five species in eleven genera mostly found in Asia, Africa, and Europe.

NORTH AMERICA

There are two species of Passeridae in one genus that occur in North America. These two species are the familiar House Sparrow and the Eurasian Tree Sparrow.

KNOWN FOR

The House Sparrow is known for being one of the most familiar bird species. This and a few other members of the Passeridae often nest around houses and have become so adapted to living with people that they are rarely found away from human habitations.

PHYSICAL

Members of the Passeridae are small birds with medium length tails, short wings, and medium length, strong legs and feet. They have fairly large heads with large, stout, strong bills suited to cracking open seeds.

COLORATION

Plumages of the Old World sparrows come in different tones of brown with gray, black and white markings. Their backs are typically streaked, and female often have duller plumages than the males. Bright colors are rare in this family and restricted to small yellow marking shown by a few species.

GEOGRAPHIC HABITAT

In North America, the House Sparrow occurs around human habitations from the northern edge of the boreal zone in Canada south to Central America (where they are rare), while the Eurasian Tree Sparrow is restricted to parks and wetlands in the Saint Louis, Missouri area and adjacent Illinois.

MIGRATION

Neither of the two members of this family introduced to North America undertake migrations.

HABITS

Both North American species are very social birds, the Eurasian Tree Sparrow nesting in loose colonies, and are rarely seen alone. Although the Eurasian Tree Sparrow tends to be more arboreal, both species mostly forage on the ground for seeds and grain, also taking insects.

CONSERVATION

Neither species of the Passeridae in North America is threatened, the introduced House Sparrow being one of the most common and abundant bird species in the United States and Canada. However in England, the House Sparrow is experiencing declines in numbers likely due, among other things, to modernizing of agricultural methods.

INTERESTING FACTS

Although both species of Passeridae were introduced to North America around the same time (the 1850s), the Eurasian Tree Sparrow has never been able to establish populations very far from Saint Louis, its original point of release. It may not be as common as the House Sparrow because of competition from that species and because it is not as adaptable to living with people.